Summer Gardening

Miss Daffodil and I dug and dug (and sweated and sweated, might I add), and planted a summer Three Sister's Garden. I was actually quite impressed with the little three year old who was willing to go out with me almost everyday for 3 weeks to dig up the dirt and prepare the ground. (Yes three weeks! Have pity on me...it's hot here in California, and I just had a baby. Ok, so she's 6 months old, but still...) AND Miss Daffodil was actually a big help! Being novice gardeners, we decided on a Three Sister's Garden. What is a Three Sister's Garden you might ask?

It is an ancient method of gardening using an intercropping system which grows corn, beans, and squash crops simultaneously in the same growing area that is typically a rounded mound of soil, often called a hill.
Corn is the oldest sister. She stands tall in the center.
Squash is the next sister. She grows over the mound, protecting her sisters from weeds and shades the soil from the sun with her leaves, keeping it cool and moist.
Beans are the third sister. She climbs through squash and then up corn to bind all together as she reaches for the sun. Beans help keep the soil fertile by coverting the sun's energy into nitrogen filled nodules that grow on its roots. As beans grow they use the stored nitrogen as food.

And here is our garden 1 month later.

More pictures to follow.

Happy summer to you!

Waldorf

I was introduced to Waldorf Education several years ago, but just recently developed a real interest in its philosophies, mainly because of my 3 year old daughter. I stay home with her, which I am so grateful for, and I think she needs it. But, I feel that, like most people, I can use some guidance in making the time that I am at home with her more valuable.

The entire Waldorf world seemed so difficult to grasp for me at first. It was the same way for me with cooking. My sister-in-law told me one day that I was over-thinking it. She was right. And after perseverance, watching other cooks, and a few good cookbooks, I've grown to LOVE cooking and nutrition- not that I can stay away from chocolate, or anything! So it was the same way with Waldorf-ian ideas. I'm slowing getting the whole concept, I think. I realized that simply being with my daughter, reading and telling good stories to her, encouraging play, imagination, and creativity, limiting the television and computers...and actually doing and moving with her and around the house was the biggest piece of what the Waldorf philosophies were based on.

I found a really good blog, The Parenting Passageway, which has been a good resource. It is teaching me how to become a better, more respecting and patient parent. Our children teach us amazing things! Before I had my first daughter I thought I was the most patient person. Now I'm finding that I pray for more patience each night! Bless her!

Like anything though, I choose to take it in baby steps. Last week I decided a good place for us to start was on our daily rhythm. For me, it was hard to go to sleep and wake up at the same times. Did I succeed all those days? No way! Not even close! But at least I was aware of my actions and what I chose to be doing with my time, and I saw the effects that the routine had on my daughter, on days when we stuck to our routine better, and on days when we didn't. I also saw by the end of the week, huge spurts in her imagination! While I was cooking dinner one night with her in the kitchen with me, as usual, she turned a cup upside down and put a plate on top of it and started cooking some food on her "stove". I was so impressed! And call me crazy, but I think it had to do with the fact that I turned off the TV this week!

I also noticed that on the "better" days, I was able to more fully enjoy and just be in the moment of whatever we were doing because I knew that I didn't need to be doing something else at that time. I was in the moment and wasn't worried about what I "should" be doing instead. It was very relaxing to my mind and I think helped me connect to my daughter more in those moments.

This week I am still working on rhythm, but also focusing on watercolor painting. Excited to see how that turns out!

My New Favorite Thing

I'm still not very good at this regular blog thing, but to give myself credit........... I had a BABY!!!! My second most beautiful daughter was born in January......my little Penelope. She is precious! It's a new and very different experience to have a second child. I'm learning how to balance it all, but it's definitely a daily struggle for me. They are teaching me so much!!

Happy Valentine's Day!! I know it's a Hallmark created holiday, but I do like the "cuteness" of the day :)

I want to share with you my most recent favorite thing (besides my baby)... peppermint or baker's twine! My husband couldn't believe me when I told him I bought some "string" for $18! But I knew it would be well worth the money :) Here are how I used it at Christmas and for Valentine's Day, and my daughter has found countless uses for it. Hope you had a lovely day!

Christmas

Our Christmas Tree this year is not your typical pine tree. Living with my parents, they always buy a real tree, I just didn't see the point to having two trees this year. So we decided to use our "nature tree", and now that it is actually on a stand, vow to finally decorate it for the seasons. It was fun to decorate it with Daphne, though, and I actually find it quite chic.

Out of fear of accumulating too much stuff, Spencer and I decided our first year of marriage to only buy one Christmas ornament a year which had meaning to us. We have gathered 6 ornaments, plus the vintage set from his mom that I love, and I'm thinking our set is coming along quite nicely. It'll be fun to explain the meaning behind each ornament to our children as the years go by.









This whole season has been fun to see through the eyes of a three year old, where everything is new and dazzling to her.

I've been busy trying to prepare for this second child- only 3 weeks left! I can't believe it- and finish Christmas gifts. Am I the only one who saves everything for the last minute?

"Keep trying... don't give up... never give up"

Yes, I am a mother, and that is a line from one of my favorite songs on Yo Gabba Gabba, that actually seems to motivate my child to try again and again. Who wouldn't love that?

Here I go, attempting yet another blog. I must be the most fickle and uncommitted person alive! However, I seem to keep coming to the realization that I crave to have like-minded women, crafters, mothers, thrifters, (whatever I may need depending on the day) to help buoy me and encourage creativity and determination to make life more beautiful and positive.

So I will try once again, for my husband, who actually laid a doily on his new nightstand, not because I told him to, but because he thought it would look nice (so proud!), and who constantly praises my talents and mothering, for myself, and for this beautiful girl who keeps inspiring me and pushes me to do better,


and for the little girl who will be here in 4 weeks (!), who brings hope to my future.